New Maruti WagonR outsells Hyundai Santro, Renault Kwid & Tata Tiago put together

The recently launched new Maruti WagonR is going great guns for India’s leading automaker Maruti Suzuki, who’s currently grappling a major sales slowdown that’s even led to steep production cuts. The new WagonR’s numbers are quite encouraging and are responsible for holding up Maruti’s numbers in May 2019. The Maruti WagonR single-handedly outsold the the Hyundai Santro, Renault Kwid and Tata Tiago put together. The Maruti WagonR also sold almost thrice as much as stable mate Celerio, which is also feeling the heat from the sales slowdown. The new Maruti WagonR clocked 14,561 dispatches in May 2019 while the Hyundai Santro, Renault Kwid and Tata Tiago managed 4,902, 5,152 and 3,535 units respectively.

The new Maruti WagonR is larger and curvier than the model it replaces but continues to offer similar styling in the form of a tall-boy design. The car is now available with multiple engine options and shares its HEARTECT lightweight platform with the likes of the Maruti Swift, Dzire and Ignis. The new WagonR’s increased dimensions have resulted in more space on the inside, and from some angles, the car looks like a mini MPV. What hasn’t increased though is the weight, and this is credit to the HEARTECT platform that uses high tensile steel that’s very stiff but light. The WagonR is powered by the 1 liter-3 cylinder K-Series petrol engine outputting 67 Bhp-90 Nm, and is also available with the more powerful 1.2 liter-4 cylinder K-Series petrol with 82 Bhp-113 Nm.

Both engines get 5 speed manual gearboxes as standard and the bigger engine also gets a 5 speed AMT. With the 1.2 liter K-Series petrol under the hood, the new WagonR is quite a peppy performer, and the AMT option also suits the bigger engine better. Safety features on the new car include a driver airbag, ABS, reverse parking sensors, speed alerts and seat belt reminders. The new car also meets Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Program (BNVSAP) norms.

The car’s higher variants get a passenger airbag, and also a reverse parking camera as an option. The WagonR’s interior design has been fully revised, and the car gets a touchscreen infotainment unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on the top-end trim. Prices of the WagonR start fron Rs. 4.2 lakhs ex-showroom Delhi. The 1.2 liter petrol version is priced just Rs. 25,000 more than the equivalent variants of the 1 liter models. This makes the WagonR 1.2 a much better buy considering the higher power on tap, additional smoothness and the higher tractability (lesser gear shifting) that the bigger engined model offers. The car is also offered in CNG trim with the 1 liter petrol engine.